After leg injury, Marc Mariani asked: “Is this the end of my career?”

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 28, 2012, 6:30 AM EDT

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Titans receiver Marc Mariani, who suffered a gruesome leg injury last week, says that when he looked down and saw the compound fracture of his tibia and fibula he immediately wondered if it was career ending.

“It was a scared feeling of, ‘this could be it.’ Your mind immediately goes to, ‘is this the last play I’ll ever play? Is this the end of my career?’ ” Mariani said, via Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. “That was kind of my worry from the get-go.”

Mariani said his teammates urged him not to look down, but he did, and he saw was his left ankle “just kind of hanging there.” Seeing how bad it looked, his biggest worry was that his mom was watching the game on TV.

“When I got in the ambulance, that’s the first thing I did — I called my mom,” Mariani said. “That’s the only thing I could think about, and she was obviously distraught and in a panic. I tried to calm her down and let her know it was going to be all right.”

Now Mariani begins a long recovery, but one that he believes will have him playing for the Titans in 2013.

“I am going to have full optimism and full confidence that it’s going to be back 100 percent,” Mariani said. “My plan is to get back on the field.”

Here’s hoping Mariani’s rehab goes according to plan, and that play was not the last play of his NFL career.

“Here’s hoping Mariani’s rehab goes according to plan, and that play was not the last play of his NFL career.”

Amen. I hope he can come back because you’ve worked so hard to get to where you are, you don’t want your mom’s last image of you in an NFL uniform to be you getting carted off the field. At least this would be my mentality.

Titans fan here. I really hope Marc can come back from this horrific injury. He’s been a great addition to our team, and he seems like a classy guy. It sure would suck for a meaningless kickoff return in a meaningless preseason game to be his last play. Hang in there Marc, us Titan fans are all rooting for you !

I wish him a speedy and full recovery so he can live a normal life and not have any issues with his gait, etc. However, it probably was the last play of his NFL career. I have never seen a player fully recover and make it to or make it back to the NFL and play after an injury like that. Tyrone Prothro (Alabama) and DeAndre Brown (Southern Miss) come to mind.

Here’s a great story about Marc Mariani. When I worked at a radio station in Havre, Montana (Marc’s hometown), the residents told me before he made the move to the NFL that he had a huge autograph signing at one of the main shopping malls in Havre. He sat out there and signed every single autograph and waited until every last person was done talking to him. Did he have to do that? No. Did he do it because he is a class act? Yes. The NFL needs guys like Marc! I wish him a full recovery.

That’s a tough injury to recover from, but Leon Washington had a very similar injury a few years back and the guy is ripping off amazing punt returns nowadays, I wish the best for him he seems like a good dude!

Best wishes for a full recovery. No one deserves to have their career end like that.

I thought it was funny though that the most clueless play by play announcer in the history of televised sports, Chris Berman, after watching the whole thing live and seeing his leg said that he hoped it was nothing serious.

When Mariani made the pro bowl a couple of years ago, the local radio played Jeff Fisher’s phone call to let him know he was going to Hawai’i. It was pretty awesome to hear his reaction. He was grateful for the opportunity and excited to get to play some wr.

He’s a good guy, and we’ll definitely see him again. Here’s to a speedy recovery Marc!

Within a day or two of his surgery this guy is tweeting pictures of himself in the hospital, taking his first steps on crutches and then in a wheelchair getting ready to be discharged. Still wearing the same big smile he’s had on his face nonstop since he arrived as a 7th round pick and longshot to make the team.

If Mariani can go from being a walk-on in college to a 7th round longshot to a Pro Bowler, I’m certainly not putting anything past him. And no one would deserve a happy ending more.